Story by Rob Wilkins
Photos by Mike Dirks
It’s 10 minutes until the start of the first Christmas service at Grace and Chari Cutshall still doesn’t have a cue.
At least not a final one.
From her perspective behind the tech board in the balcony, a flurry of activity surrounds her – drama people continuing to ad-lib their lines; her sister, mother and father (the singing Cutshalls) rehearsing songs, and various messengers with a parade of last “last minute” changes.
“The tech desk on Sunday morning can sometimes be a buzz of activity,” Chari understates. “Sometimes video clips might not fit with the message as well as was thought and will get dropped last minute. Lyrics to songs will not match with what the musicians are singing and slides have to be changed. Equipment will malfunction, usually minutes before the service starts.”
For this evening’s service -- what is often referred to as the “Saturday night test run” -- Chari is running lights, and the cues on the paper in front of her have been penciled in and scratched out several times already.
On it is ruining Christmas fade out lights.
On Lets work through it, fade lights on Dusty.
Before announcement spot fade in lights on Joyce after Josiah leaves.
“For a worship service I arrive early with the musicians, actors, and other technicians involved with the service. During practice I will write lighting cues for all the aspects of the service -- music, drama, video clips, the message, etc. No service is ever the same so practice gives me time to adjust all my cues and get them in order.”
As she watches over the seeming chaos, expecting more changes, she seems remarkably poised, almost non-chalant. That’s because she knows this particular script will always change, sometimes even while the service is in progress.
Truth be told, Chari actually likes the unpredictable flow. You guess she may be a closet adrenaline junkie. Serving in tech provides her with a variety of ministry in a spectrum of changing contexts.
“I'm a visually creative person and a technically minded person as well. I design buildings for a living. I'm also a very shy person too, so behind the scenes is more my comfort zone than on stage. Getting involved with tech was a way for me to contribute and serve using my particular talents. No one may notice me or what I do in the balcony, but that is okay, that just means I have done my job. Good lighting is when people DON'T notice.”
Her perch in the balcony is not just reserved for weekend services. Some of her favorite memories are from serving during special events at Grace – lighting for the plays Tartuffe or Last Train to Nibroc or various concerts.
Lighting and tech involves the interplay of the subtle and dramatic in unexpected moments. “Most of the time the adjustments on the light board are pretty subtle, like when someone on stage walks out of the pool of light and I have to grab a slider and put some more light on the stage,” she says. But there are notable exceptions. She sheds light on what she means by choosing a few of a growing list of stories.
“One story I remember actually involved the light fixtures themselves,” Chari says. “We had just put the fixtures back to their typical arrangement after having moved them for a play. I was sitting in the balcony during the first Sunday morning service and noticed a light got brighter all of a sudden. One of the color gels in one of the fixtures had slid out and was just hanging by a corner above the audience below. I probably stared at it the whole rest of the service praying that it would not fall on someone's head. Between services I crawled up on the catwalk to grab it while Dusty (McNabb, Arts Director) cleared out the people below.”
And then there’s the story about the lightening damage.
“One Sunday the tech board had been fried by a storm. Nothing could be done with the lights except from the dimmer panel up beside the stage. I remember having to sit up on the side catwalk through two services, with a flashlight, and manually punching in the numbers so at least the dance portion of the service would still have the correct lighting.”
In facing the challenges of tech, the best thing is never feeling alone.
“Being involved with tech has allowed me to create some great relationships, particularly working with Dusty. We have developed a valuable friendship, and she has taught me a lot. She has involved me in many new things that I probably would never have considered doing. And she has completely trusted me with responsibilities regardless of my complete lack of experience. It is a great feeling to know you can be involved without having to be a professional, that there is a place for you to come and grow, and you are appreciated. And it's fun too.”
For Chari, in her service to others, the unexpected becomes the expected.
“OK, this is it, Chari,” the stage manager says precisely one minute before the first Christmas service begins. Chari writes the final cue on her script.
We will just have to work through this. Fade lights.
Chari smiles. She has learned ministry, like life, means being comfortable with the possibility of still another cue to come.
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